Crimson Melancholy
by WhenYouFell
Summary: Sakura reflects on the last battle and the loss of her friend and how Itachi has affected her life. Slight AU and OOC, rewritten!


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters J

Okay, I know that the Naruto plotline is very different from this story in some parts so I hope it's not too confusing. This is a slight AU story.

**Crimson Melancholy**

She sighed and looked forlornly out the window, face gaunt, lips sallow, strangely at peace. It was a quiet almost choking peacefulness that surrounded her; it was the sigh of relief that one breathes after a terrifying and life-changing experience, one that said, _"finally, it's over."_

The sun began to peak out over the grass. God how she loved watching the sun rise. She loved watching its golden edges stretch out over the land, watching it light up her hair and the way it seemed to say, _good morning_, as it warmed her face.

Sakura tugged her worn fingers through her infamous pink locks and tried not to remember a time when she was innocent, those memories could only hollow her out. How could team seven end up like this? _If only I had done something more … Anything … _These thoughts rattled in her brain like ravenous bullets pinging from the walls of her head.

_Remember when we thought we could take on the world?_ Her inner-self mumbled nostalgically; yes, she did, but that was when she had the support and protection of her loved ones. When everything was still green with innocence and when her worries were only to try and catch up to her teammates. That was when she still had Naruto there with her, always the first to crack a joke; he was the one who helped her smile after Sasuke left.

How could he do that? Her brow furrowed as her lips down-turned slightly, tears lightly prickled behind eyelids as she closed her eyes in distress. How was Sasuke able to simply throw away that family of teammates?

Three tears dropped onto the window sill as frustration mixed with her regret, frustration and anger at him because he wouldn't let them save him.

She looked toward the object of Sasuke's obsession and the pent up stress melted from her body. Sakura smiled lightly at the sight of the mussed hair sticking up in all directions and the slight bit of drool at the corner of his mouth.

They looked so alike and were so similar and yet the man she was looking at had the opposite affect on her life that Sasuke did. He gave her hope and happiness and laughter. He gave her everything she could have ever craved from Sasuke and more.

Sakura thought of countless examples where only he could have saved her, including the incident from the week prior. It was the day when the Konoha ninja banded together to face Sasuke. This would be the last time and everyone knew that he would come dead or alive or they would die trying, Naruto had been hell bent on the alive factor of the mission.

It seemed as though everyone had gone to that mission, even Itachi. They had lost so many friends that day … She just couldn't have saved them all, but gods did she try. She tried so much that eventually her other teammates needed to pull her away from those blank eyes and cold fingers.

They needed to snap her out of it when all was said and done. _"Sakura! Pull yourself together!" _Kakashi had barked tiredly at her, _"I understand," _she knew he did she saw it in his hollowed eyes, _"but we need you, we need your medical ninjutsu and we need your strength. Come on, let's respect the dead properly and return home safely with each other."_ And she knew he had been right.

She remembered watching his empty smile and how he turned to the grim task ahead. The years had hardened him and she watched his tired figure slowly until Itachi came to her side, hand on her shoulder.

"_Do you … Do you want to see him?" _He muttered unsurely to her, she breathed in deeply, suffocating on air. This was the one corpse she had been avoiding. This was the one she worked on the longest and now, in the aftermath of the battle, had been avoiding the most. _"Yes."_

The soft cloth covering Naruto's face slipped off easily with the slightest touch. She breathed back a sob.

"_I'm sorry Sakura," _he coughed crimson into his hand, _"I couldn't bring him back with us, and I couldn't keep my promise …"_

"_Naruto! Shut up! Shut up! You will! Okay, just listen to me, breath, you can do this! Stay with me damn it!" _Sasuke let out a twisted laugh, his mangled body horrifyingly unnatural in the glow of the sunset.

"_Sakura,"_ Naruto whispered, "_take care of Hinata, take care of her, I'm sorry I couldn't bring our family back, I couldn't fix it."_

"_Idiot," _she sobbed, still pouring chakra into his body as Hinata cradled his head gently in her lap. _"You did fix it, remember? Sasuke came out for a second, that bastard Orochimaru couldn't keep him back,"_ another sob, _"remember he said sorry, he said sorry,"_ she couldn't see past the tears anymore.

Sakura finally stopped the flow of chakra, wiping her tears on her sleeve and nodded at Hinata. _"Naruto," _she said calmly through her wavering voice, _"you are a hero, you are my best friend and you are the best ninja the world has never known." _He chuckled painfully, _"thanks Sakura, but you should tell me something I don't know." _They laughed and she and Hinata held hands as he passed, she watched the couple raining "I love you's" all over each other for the last time as Hinata's grip on her hand became tighter and tighter with each passing minute.

That night Itachi cradled her in his arms, the two didn't sleep as Sakura's silent sobs racked her body. He stayed with her and comforted her although the two were severely exhausted, it was only when she had finally collapsed from the emotional and physical trauma that he finally let his eyes droop and form relax.

She smiled contently at the small, warm room and the comfort of their home and how she had finally been able to obtain happiness, if only just a piece. God, who could imagine what people would say if they saw the dangerous S-class criminal slowly beginning to frown in his sleep with that hair sticking up.

What would they do if they saw his head snap up like that, scanning the room quickly with his crazy hair flailing and watched him stumble toward her; he huffed as he dragged her back to the bed, slightly silly smile plastered on his face as he cuddled her like a teddy bear.

Sakura tried not to laugh at the mental image of the elders and Tsunade shisou looking in shock at this spectacle.

A small giggle escaped her throat and she sighed in contentment. She let the warm glow of the sun and the familiar comfort of Itachi cradle her to sleep and dreamt.

She could have sworn that she had just seen Naruto run around that corner with one of his trademark fox grins in tow. Was that … feathers she felt brush across her face?

Okay, first I want to thank you for reading this one-shot and I hope you enjoyed it. I know I didn't address the kyubi issue with Naruto's death as well as Sakura's promise to Naruto regarding Hinata. I also know that I didn't list the names of the deceased and some other things but I will try to get to those things in the other re-writes I will be doing later on. The story is still swirling around in my head with little bits and pieces like some kind of funky brain stew.

I do hope you enjoyed this and I would love and ideas or constructive criticisms you may have, I hope that you do take an interest in the series as I keep going through them. Thanks!


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